Bobcats bullied by Blue Valley West in first round

Fans watching the Basehor-Linwood boys play Blue Valley West quickly realized the Bobcats were outmatched.

The two teams met up in the first round of the Basehor-Linwood Invitational Basketball Tournament, and Blue Valley West dominated throughout in capturing a 64-28 victory over the tournament hosts Tuesday, Jan. 21.

Blue Valley West sprinted to a 15-0 lead to start the game, and they never looked back.

Bobcat head coach Bruce Courtney said his team was a little shell shocked to open the game.

"First off, they're really a quality team," Courtney said. "They are fast and play hard. We came out flat, and they took advantage of that right away."

Coming into the game, Basehor-Linwood was the heavy underdog as they were the No. 8 seed playing the No. 1 team. Courtney had hoped that fact would serve as a motivation for his team, but the opposite occurred.

"We tried to approach the game as we had no pressure," he said. "They were the top seed. I don't think we were intimidated, but maybe deep down we were. They have a lot of size."

Blue Valley West showed why they were the No. 1 seed early and often.

After senior Eric Laffere finally broke Blue Valley West's opening 15-0 opening run with a lay-up, they went on another run.

As time wound down in the first quarter, Blue Valley West hit a three-pointer just before the buzzer, a sign of how things had gone.

After the first quarter, Basehor-Linwood trailed, 20-2.

Blue Valley West's dominance continued throughout the entire game building a gap as big as 38 at one point in the fourth quarter.

Basehor-Linwood could never get their offense running smoothly as they turned the ball over 24 times. They only shot 36 times, and they only made 10 of them for 28 per cent.

Senior Brandon Dye led scorers with ten. Seniors Brian Gripka, John Grube, and Laffere all had five points.

While so much went wrong for the Bobcats, Courtney said he could take away something positive from the game.

"In the second half, we came out better," he said. "We played harder somewhat. They didn't fold after they got down. I was proud that they didn't give up. That says a lot about the character of the team."

Courtney had to think positively because his team did not have much time to rebound following the loss. His team played the next night, Wednesday, Jan. 22, against Fort Scott in the consolation side of the bracket.

Results for the game were not available at press time, but Courtney said Fort Scott is a talented team.

"It may be easier to rebound," he said before the Fort Scott game. "You certainly don't want a repeat performance. Fort Scott will be tough; another challenge."

With a win over Fort Scott, the Bobcats will play Friday at 7:30 p.m. for fifth place. If they lost, Basehor-Linwood will play Friday at 4:30 p.m. for seventh place.